Gulf oil wells have been leaking since 2004 hurricane [View all]

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http://grist.org/news/gulf-oil-wells-have-been-leaking-since-2004-hurricane/

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Taylor Energy’s unchecked oil slick.

Oil has been gushing from a group of wells south of New Orleans since a platform at the site was wiped out by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and it appears that nothing is being done to staunch or control the leaking.

Efforts to cap the ruptures seem to have been abandoned in 2011. Instead of working to clean up or stop the spill, driller Taylor Energy Company is now providing the government with daily updates about the resultant slick.

Even those updates appear to be half-baked. A long ribbon of oil can clearly be seen spilling out from the site, but Taylor Energy claims it’s much smaller than does NOAA.

On June 1, NOAA reported to the Coast Guard that the slick was 20.2 miles long and a mile wide.